Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Lili Boulanger: D'un soir triste Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin & Nicolò Umberto Foron

• Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869): Symphonie fantastique, H. 48:
• 1 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: I. Rêveries – Passions 14:47
• 2 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: II. Un bal. Valse 06:26
• 3 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: III. Scène aux champs 15:46
• 4 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: IV. Marche au supplice 06:42
• 5 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat 10:15
• Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918): D’un soir triste (Version for Orchestra):
• 6 Boulanger: D’un soir triste (Version for Orchestra) 09:57
• Total Runtime 01:03:53

Info for Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Lili Boulanger: D'un soir triste

When Deutschlandfunk and Musikfest Bremen first approached me to produce an album with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, I faced the unique challenge of choosing a programme that resonated strongly with me and had a significant historical connection. Although I am half German and half Italian, I was quickly drawn to the personal ties I have with French music.

I wanted to present works by young composers that had a strong impact on the history of music and pieces that offer the audience a rich, diverse soundscape. Therefore, I chose two French composers who are personally significant to me for various reasons.

Lili Boulanger’s "D’un soir triste" was one of her last compositions, written just before the end of her life at twenty-four. Having struggled with chronic illness for most of her life, she died on 15 March 1918 of complications related to tuberculosis—just ten days before Claude Debussy, who had been one of her strongest supporters. In 1913, at only nineteen years old, she became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, France’s most prestigious composition prize, awarded that year to her cantata Faust et Hélène. Boulanger had initially entered the competition in 1912 but was forced to withdraw due to illness.

After choosing the piece by Boulanger, I wanted to pair it with another French composer who marked a significant change in my development as a musician. When I first worked on Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, I found its sound palette abundant and excessive. Over time, however, I came to appreiate its emotional depth and rapid changes of mood.

When I conducted the Symphonie fantastiquen the finals of the London Symphony Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in 2023—a perfor-mance that led to me winning the first prize—I felt that the piece had finally become “my own.” It is also fitting that when we recorded this album with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, I was the same age as Berlioz when he wrote the work: twenty-six (= the current age of the conductor Nicolò Foron!)

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Nicolo Foron, conductor

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO)
was highlighted by the renowned national newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung as the “orchestral think tank” among the capital city’s orchestras. It is characterized by the rich dramaturgy of its concert programmes, its commitment to contemporary music and regular discoveries of repertoire, as well as the courage to pursue unusual music presentation formats.

The DSO has provided innovative impulses with electro projects, the production of extraordinary music films, interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration with ensembles on the independent scene. With its moderated casual concerts including lounge and live act, it has been successfully building a bridge between club and classical music for over 15 years, reaching a broad and diverse audience. Since 2014, it has been bringing amateur musicians together with professionals to form Berlin’s largest spontaneous orchestra, the Symphonic Mob – a concept that is now also licensed throughout Europe. In the 2023/2024 season, the DSO attracted worldwide attention with a feminist music policy initiative under the motto ‘No Concert Without a Female Composer!’.

The 2024/2025 season took place in cooperation with the campaign of the Deutscher Bühnenverein ‘Orchestra for Democracy’; in this context, various concert programmes underlined the positioning for an open society and the advocacy for marginalized groups. The DSO will remain true to this selfimage in the 2025/2026 season, which will focus on music by Afrodiasporic composers under the title ‘Afrodiaspora – Composing While Black’.

With its many guest performances, the DSO is present on the national and international music scene. The orchestra has performed in recent years in Brazil and Argentina, in Japan, China, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi and Eastern Europe, as well as at major festivals such as the Salzburg Festival or BBC Proms.

The DSO also has a global presence with numerous award-winning CD recordings. In 2011, it received the Grammy Award for the world premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho’s opera L’amour de loin conducted by Kent Nagano. Most recently, the orchestra received high critical acclaim for its recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto with Robin Ticciati and Vilde Frang on Warner Classics.

Founded as the RIAS Symphony Orchestra in 1946, it was renamed the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin in 1956 and has borne its current name since 1993. Since its inception, the DSO has been able to retain outstanding artist personalities. As the first Music Director, Ferenc Fricsay defined the standards in terms of repertoire, acoustic ideal and media presence. In 1964, the young Lorin Maazel assumed artistic responsibility.

In 1982, he was followed by Riccardo Chailly and in 1989 by Vladimir Ashkenazy. Kent Nagano was appointed Music Director in 2000. Since his departure in 2006, he has been associated with the orchestra as a Conductor Laureate. From 2007 to 2010, Ingo Metzmacher, from 2012 to 2016, Tugan Sokhiev, and from 2017 to 2024, Robin Ticciati set decisive accents in the musical life of the capital. They will be succeeded by the Japanese Kazuki Yamada, who will lead the DSO as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director from September 2026.

Nicolò Umberto Foron
is a German-Italian conductor whose talent has been recognized through significant accolades, including winning the prestigious “Donatella Flick” Conducting Competition in March 2023 and the International Conducting Competition “Jeunesses Musicales” in Bucharest in 2021. He currently serves as the Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Nicolò Foron has been featured multiple times on British Classic FM, where his videos have garnered millions of views, and has also been named one of the 2025 “30 Under 30” artists.

In recent years, Nicolò Foron has collaborated with a wide range of distinguished orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Staatskapelle Weimar, Opéra national de Montpellier, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai (Turin), Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, Opéra national de Lorraine, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.

In addition, he has led performances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and made his debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the Wiener Kammerorchester. He has also conducted the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra on tour with Viktoria Mullova, as well as the Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Arktisk Filharmoni, with appearances at prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Die Glocke Bremen. In February 2025, he conducted both the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Barbican) and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Musiikkitalo) performing a mix of world premieres and highly specialized repertoire. Further concerts have included the Bremer Philharmoniker, Cameristi della Scala, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Euskadiko Orkestra (Basque National Orchestra), and the Odense Symfoniorkester.

The 2025–2026 season sees Foron leading a dynamic series of performances at the MiTo Settembre- Musica Festival and with orchestras such as the SWR Symphonieorchester, Orquesta de Extremadura, a tour with Orchestra Haydn, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, among others.

He also returns to the Arktisk Filharmoni and the Cameristi della Scala.

Renowned for his versatility, Foron has conducted numerous world premieres, particularly with Ensemble intercontemporain, and excels in both symphonic and operatic repertoires. His operatic achievements include performances of The Marriage of Figaro (Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy), Hansel and Gretel (Staatskapelle Weimar), and Walter Kollo’s operetta Jettchen Gebert (Musikalische Komödie Leipzig), alongside premieres of contemporary Dutch operas.

Foron’s musical career began at an early age, studying conducting, composition, and piano, the latter being his first instrument. He trained with renowned pianists such as K.H. Kämmerling and A.

Ugorski and began studying conducting under Jorma Panula at the age of 10. His extraordinary abilities drew the attention of Bernard Haitink, who invited him at age 16 to take part in masterclasses at the Lucerne Festival. At the age of 16, Foron began formal conducting studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, followed by a master’s degree at the Royal College of Music and an Advanced Diploma in Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London, from which he graduated in 2021.

He continues to perform as a concert pianist, often collaborating with his sister, violinist Mira Foron. During the pandemic lockdown, Foron conducted the Noord Nederlands Orkest in a livestream and a CD recording featuring Jan-Peter de Graaf’s Cello Concerto, which earned him a nomination for the German Schallplatten Prize. In 2023, he was named Artist in Residence by German National Broadcasting Deutschlandfunk, an honor that included both a concert and a CD recording with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The CD will be published by Deutsche Grammophon/CAvi in the summer of 2025.

Booklet for Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Lili Boulanger: D'un soir triste